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Michael Porter Jr. recovering after back surgery

COLUMBIA - Missouri basketball star Michael Porter Jr. is recovering after undergoing surgery in Dallas Tuesday. MU said he will likely miss the rest of the season.

Porter underwent a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 spinal discs. The procedure has a projected recovery time of three to four months.

"I really appreciate the support of my family and program as I begin this process," Porter said in a statement. "I'm thankful for these kind words and messages I've received from fans. Those mean a lot to me. I cannot wait to be completely healthy and play this game I love again."

Porter is expected to make a complete recovery, according to MU.

Theodore Choma, MU health care spine surgeon, said a microdiscectomy is not a spinal cord injury.

"When people have lombar discarnations it will irritate individual nerves, but not the whole spinal cord and it doesn't usually injure the nerves in a permanent way," Choma said. "It irritates them and the pain can be really, pretty bad."

Choma said most people are able to get back to all of the activities they were doing before.

"We have some studies of high-level athletes like NFL players that have shown, more often than not, those players have been able to get back to their professional sport after having a discectomy."